


Brunch is Something Grown-Ups Do

by MrWindUpBird



Category: OMORI (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Drama, F/M, Reunions, Romance, Sunburn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:22:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29939586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrWindUpBird/pseuds/MrWindUpBird
Summary: A fluffy, semi-angsty reunion one-shot, set a few weeks after Sunny moves away from Faraway Town.Contains graphic depictions of French food.Not related to my longer piece, "Where Your Heartache Exists."Originally posted on Reddit (by me) as "Aubrey and Sunny go to brunch, get emotional."
Relationships: Aubrey/Sunny (OMORI)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 55





	Brunch is Something Grown-Ups Do

It was easy to come up with reasons not to buy that bus ticket, during Sunny’s first few weeks in Woodlawn. He had unpacking to do; then his injured eye was hurting too bad; then he had to catch up on remedial homework; then it looked like the weather would be bad. Kel, being Kel, was simply too natively happy to ever show any negativity about it.

“Hey – maybe next weekend! That’s okay pal! ^_^” the reply would come. And Sunny started to think he might really be able to do it: to make the clean escape, and to let his friends get on with their lives. Whatever they might have said about forgiveness, about understanding, how they still loved him – how could he believe them? They were kind, of course – Kel, Aubrey, Hero and Basil. They were generous: if Sunny wanted it, they would bear the pain of having him around for his own sake. Or: he could stay up here, and keep all the reminders of the pain here with him, away from them, so they could be happy with each other. Even with the enormous truth out in the open now – wasn’t it still better this way? He’d seen them for a few days, after a gap of years. They’d gotten on fine without him, and they could again.

Until the text came in from Kel, one day while Sunny was sitting, alone, in the cafeteria of his new school:

“Dude, are you ever gonna come down? Aubrey keeps moping about how she thinks you hate her, and it’s getting on my nerves. I told her to ask you herself and she just kicked me. >☹”

Sunny put his head in his hands, over his tray of square school pizza. He felt that lancing sensation, right in the heart: tension, hope and fear bound up together. He went over the construct again in his head: “Let them heal. Let them move on. Let them forget. Let them replace you.” But another voice, the selfish voice, said: “You can see her. Just one time. Then you can walk away for good. See her one more time, just so that you can imprint her face on your memory again. See her once, so you’ll have a clear image to focus on before you go to sleep every night.”

No. Think about school. Think about homework. Think about algebra. Or pizza – Sunny lifted up the weird square pizza. A lump of something fell off of it; hopefully that was sausage. He took a bite. Pizza wasn’t supposed to crunch, was it?

 _If it’s not too much trouble – could you, you know… come visit once in a while?_ The look in her eyes, the faint blush he’d never seen before…

“I’ll see if I can come down this weekend. Can I crash at your place?” Sunny typed. He stared at his phone for several seconds; then hit send and stuffed it back in his pocket, and sighed.

-

Saturday morning – after a joyous Friday night in which, although Sunny tried his best to be calm and unemotional, Kel had simply so excited to see him that it was impossible; and, hyped up on Oragne Joe, they’d stayed up into the wee hours playing games. Sunny, passed out on the couch, was awakened by shouting and banging. Kel sat down heavily on the floor next to him and chucked his phone at a nearby pillow.

“I just don’t understand Aubrey,” said Kel. “She says she wants to hang out with you by herself this morning, and that I can’t come. After all this time apart! Isn’t that selfish? I told her we’re all hanging tonight at least, no matter what she says. But man – what’s the big idea? I don’t get it! It doesn’t make sense!” Kel sprawled dramatically with a huff.

Sunny looked across the room, where on the doorknob were hanging his carefully pressed chinos and the checked shirt which his mom had insisted would be worth its exorbitant price. “Trust me Sunny – the fit is everything.” No, Kel… it makes more sense than you think, buddy.

“Who knows?” said Sunny. “If I find out I’ll tell you. Can you help me fix my hair?”

“What? Why? It’s just Aubrey!” said Kel, grinning.

“Well. Uh… just because,” said Sunny, keeping his face neutral with an effort. “Maybe I’ll have to uh… talk my way past a cop? If Aubrey gets us into trouble?”

“Oh, dude – you’re right! It’s so good to have you back, Sunny. Yeah, I think Hero left some styling gel around here somewhere…”

-

Just up the road from Faraway Plaza, set back from the road in a stand of trees, sat the little café, La Maison Blanche, where Aubrey had ordered Sunny to report. Wooden tables sat in a kind of courtyard, under rope lights strung through the branches; from a flagpole on the roof of the old converted house flew a fleur-de-lis pennant. A few couples sat drinking from tiny cups, or eating foods which sat in small piles under what Sunny imagined were called “glazes.” It felt extremely _adult_. Even more than usual, Sunny tried to shrink into himself, hoping that no one would notice him. Ruing the stupid eyepatch again.

He spotted Aubrey off in a corner, sitting in front of a trellis covered in flowering vines. She rose to meet him as he approached; she was, startlingly, wearing a dress, a summery pleated teal dress which somehow complemented her shocking pink hair, and from beneath which her legs seemed strikingly, impossibly long. And was that the smell of – perfume? When had Aubrey learned such things even existed? He paused before her, and they both hesitated: how were they supposed to greet each other now? Kel had been right: they needed him here for this, to slap everyone’s back and dole out high fives. Instead they were alone with each other, with no buffer. Sunny felt a tingle pass through him.

“Hi, Sunny.”  
“Hey, Aubrey.”

Somewhat awkwardly they sat back down, perhaps afraid they would receive an electric shock if they made contact. Sunny, unable to help himself, stared at Aubrey.

“Aubrey – you, um. You look amazing,” said Sunny.

Aubrey turned as pink as her hair. “Don’t say weird stuff!” she cried; at that moment, a waiter approached, clad in shirt-tails and a white apron with an exceedingly French twirly mustache.

“Welcome to La Maison Blanche – could I get sir and madame anything to drink? A bottle of wine, perhaps? Or, as it is morning, perhaps a mimosa?” The waiter did not bother to hide his amused grin. Aubrey and Sunny both began to splutter and mumble; the waiter had mercy on them. “Only joking, my young friends. Do forgive me. I’ll bring you some mineral water; here are the menus. Please take your time.” He left with a flourish.

“What is this place, Aubrey? Don’t we always just go to Gino’s?” said Sunny.

“Well, we’re not little kids anymore!” said Aubrey, with a glint in her eye that very much reminded Sunny of the little kid that Aubrey had been back then. “And Gino’s is not very, umm…” She trailed off. “Anyway – I wanted it to be kind of a special occasion, you know? If… if you’re not going to visit much.”

The face she made gave Sunny a pang of guilt, and he rubbed the back of his head and looked away. “Well, you know. I’ve had a lot going on with moving and all…”

The waiter reappeared. For a moment Aubrey made a show of trying to order like a knowledgeable gourmand; the waiter graciously observed that vichysoisse was, perhaps, not best enjoyed as a brunch dish, and allowed her to save face by complimenting her excellent taste in accepting his suggestion instead of the buckwheat crepes with baked peaches. Sunny sat there with a bemused expression; Aubrey looked downcast. “Maybe at your _new_ school you’ll meet a cosmopolitan girl who knows all about vichy-whatever. And she’ll carry a little black handbag and wear a pearl necklace,” she muttered.

“I, uh… really don’t see that happening any time soon, Aubrey,” said Sunny.

The waiter arrived with their food, and for a while Aubrey and Sunny forgot their self-consciousness. They talked about how surprising it was that buckwheat crepes with baked peaches were actually a nice and normal food. Aubrey told a story about how, incredibly, Kel had lost one of his shoes _during_ a live basketball game, and had been forced to play the rest of the game with one foot in a rain boot as that’s all that was handy; Sunny told a story about his new chemistry teacher, an old man who had ear hairs which, he swore, actually reached down and brushed against the collar of his shirt if he bent his head. Sunny noticed that Aubrey’s laugh hadn’t changed; but somehow his heart felt a little different now when he heard it.

Then – the food was gone, the check was paid, and that was it.

“That was actually nice,” said Sunny.

“Are you surprised?! Give me a little credit, Sunny.”

“Should I text Kel now, I guess?”

Aubrey’s face fell. “Wait a little longer, can’t you? I have to see Kel every day. It’s not like I’m looking forward to doing it again.”

“Well, where should we go now?”

Aubrey made a thinking face. “I know! Let’s go to the lake, the one behind the park. We can feed the ducks.”

“Won’t your friends be there? Vance and uh… “The Maverick”?”

“Nah. I told them to get lost today. They know what will happen if they show up. It’ll be deserted for sure,” said Aubrey, her eyes flashing. Premeditated, thought Sunny.

But he asked the waiter for some old bread, which he produced with a wink, and they set off. As they walked down the street, Aubrey just a little in front, Sunny saw her leaving her trailing hand back just a little, fingers reaching out – she was hoping that he would take her hand and hold it, while trying to stay casual, to play it off. Sunny didn’t take it. He saw her glance back, trying to hide it, and he looked off at the horizon. Let her forget, let her move on, let her forget, let her move on, it’s better that way…

-

Sunny and Aubrey, having fought their way through the thorny thicket into the secret hangout, sat on the old bench in the early summer warmth. The bag of stale rolls sat in front of them on the ground. There were no ducks around; every few minutes, Sunny or Aubrey would toss a piece of roll into the water to see what would happen. Each time the result was the same: it would float there for several minutes, become waterlogged, and sink. Hopefully some big fat fish down there was eating them at least.

“What are you gonna do after high school, Sunny? Do you ever think about it?” said Aubrey.

“Sometimes,” said Sunny. “I think… hmmm. I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to get my grades up enough for college. And I don’t know if I really care about going there anyway. I think… maybe… I’ll move across the country. To some place like, uh, Cincinnati. Or Dover, Delaware. Where I don’t know anyone, and they won’t know me. And I’ll change my name to something cool, like “Reed Bronson.” And I’ll be a dump truck driver,” he said, with just the ghost of a smile.

Aubrey burst out laughing. “That’s so random! Why would you ever want to do that?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I was in that house for so long. I feel like I want to spend the rest of my life being outside somehow. And if I drive a dump truck – I can carry people’s problems away. Or bring them a load of gravel. People will probably be happy when I show up.”

“Would you let me ride around with you?” said Aubrey. “Maybe I can pull the lever that makes the dumping thing go bvvvvvvv” – she made her best impression of the sound a dump truck makes, and they both laughed.

“I don’t know,” said Sunny. “Who knows. It’s just a daydream.”

“That’s not “yes,”” said Aubrey.

“Well. I mean, there’s still time to think about everything.”  
“And what you’re thinking about, is getting as far away from us all as you can, huh? And changing your name?” said Aubrey. “Hmmm.” She stood up; kicked a pebble out into the water.

“Is that why it took you a month and a half to come see us all?” said Aubrey, not looking at Sunny. “How often would I see “Reed Bronson” who lives in Cincinnati?”

Sunny stood too. “That’s the point,” he said. “You don’t… you don’t need to see him.”

Aubrey whirled around. “How do you know? Huh?”

“You have Hero here. And Basil. And all your new friends too. If I… if I stay away, eventually you’ll probably date Kel or something. He’s a great fit for you. I want everyone to be happy,” said Sunny.

“You asshole!” cried Aubrey. “Who are you to decide how we’re supposed to be happy? Is that what you think is right? Is that what you think is brave? I’ll show you brave!”

Aubrey pulled Sunny close, one arm around the small of his back, the other on the back of his head, and kissed him, hungrily, on the mouth. Sunny felt, in that moment, the force of emotions, long suppressed, trying to break through the stone wall he’d put up; he felt the warmth of one tear of Aubrey’s on his cheek.  
  
  


With a momentous effort, Sunny gently tried to push Aubrey away. “Aubrey – no. You’re supposed to, to move on. How can… how can everyone move on, if I stayed around? If I was around all the time?”

“I AM moving on!” Aubrey was screaming now. “This IS moving on! You’re the one who’s not moving on!” She shoved Sunny, who stumbled, and dropped to one knee. “We can’t let the past win, Sunny. I’m not willing to let the past stop me from living _now._ ” She heaved a ragged sigh. “Look… if you don’t like me, if this is how you’re trying to tell me you don’t like me, that’s… that’s one thing.” She turned away. “I could, maybe, accept that. After a while. But at least be honest.”

Sunny stood up, and met Aubrey’s eyes with his one good one. They were wet with tears, but her fists were clenched, and there was still a brave, defiant scowl on her face which said, go on. Do your worst. I can take it.

Wouldn’t she be better off without me? Sunny thought. I’m sure she’d get over it. I think Aubrey could get over a chainsaw wound.

But if that’s true… maybe she really can get past everything else that happened, too.

Maybe she’s right.

And if that’s the case… shouldn’t I just…

Sunny took one step forward, and embraced Aubrey, and kissed her back; he felt her weep and shudder with relief. And rather than feel like he’d just taken some enormous and irrevocable plunge, he allowed himself to think, just for this moment, that if there’s a beautiful girl who loves you, maybe you should just love her back, and let everything else sort itself out.

They pulled away, only a little bit, and heard a cry from the direction of the park: “NOOOOOOOO!”

With wide eyes, Sunny and Aubrey looked, and saw Kel holding his head in his hands with an expression of immense distress. He walked over to them; they hastily separated, although Aubrey didn’t let go of Sunny’s hand.

“Kel!” cried Sunny. “Don’t tell me you liked Aubrey?”

“And why were you just lurking in the trees???” cried Aubrey.

“I don’t know, I was bored! And no, dude – this means I just lost my bet with Hero! He always said you two were gonna end up together, but I thought eventually The Maverick would win her over!” said Kel.

“GROSS!” said Aubrey, and she kicked Kel in the shin.  
“Ow! Like I’m not in enough pain already. I owe Hero 20 bucks, man!”

Kel grinned, but Aubrey and Sunny were both too emotional – they just stared at him.

“Come on guys. It’s okay! Sunny, you know Aubrey’s birthday is coming up, right? Sucks for you dude – now you have to actually get her something nice. Glad I don’t have that problem.”

At the same time, Sunny and Aubrey both hugged Kel.

“That’s better. A couple, eh? Maybe I can get that blue-haired girl at Hobbeez to double-date with us…”

  
  



End file.
